Thompson Family Portraits

Since we had the whole Thompson family together for the first time in almost three years (and since the last Thompson family photo was missing a new spouse and three grandkids), we took the opportunity to have some new photos taken.

Portraits by PointeDigital photography.

Festival of Trees

The Festival of Trees is one of my favorite Utah Christmas traditions! I was so excited to get to go last week! This was my very favorite tree this year. It was a life-size Grinch dressed as Santa with the decorated tree and toys and gifts stuffed in his sack. SO cute and creative!
We took a break and enjoyed delicious warm cinnamon rolls and cinnamon sugar scones. You could smell them almost immediately when you walked in the doors; how could we resist?! Silly Andrew chose popcorn instead.

When Logan sat down and looked at his scone and popcorn he announced, "Now that's what I call a MEAL!"

I Should Have Known Better...

...than to trust Logan in the back seat with a full box of Kleenex!

Leavin' On a Jet Plane

I had been physically SICK about this day for about a week, just dreading how awful traveling alone with three young children on an airplane would be! I imagined that by then end of the flight, every fellow passenger would seriously hate me! That is, if I didn't loose one of the kids in the airport before we even made it to the plane! (I purposely dressed them in the brightest colors they had, just in case I had to look for them in a crowd.)We made it through check-in and security relatively quickly, and got to the terminal in plenty of time. Andrew and Logan loved watching our plane prepare for our flight and asked lots of questions (most of which I didn't know the answers to). They couldn't wait to get on the plane!

This was the boys' second airplane trip, but the last one was over two years ago, so they didn't remember it very well. They were very good and stayed busy most of the time watching The Clone Wars DVD, and coloring with their ColorWonder markers. Hannah took about a 30-minute nap at the very beginning, and then was pretty good until the last hour when she got a little restless and squirmy. Luckily, I had plenty of snacks to keep her from having a total meltdown.

Overall, it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined it! I don't think we made a single enemy on the plane. We are so happy to be here in Utah with all our family! Now I don't have to worry about the flight home for three more weeks...

My First Ponytail

Christmas Lights at Shaker Square

Saturday night, we visited Shaker Square to see the Christmas lights and Santa Claus.

Paiton loves her cousin, Andrew. It was so fun to have Deb and Paiton stay at our house with us this weekend.

The kids were so excited to see Santa. Logan asked Santa for a "big red truck." Hannah pulled Santa's beard (yep, it was real). When it was Andrew's turn, he pulled out a handwritten list (front and back!) that he read to Santa. That sure made Mrs. Claus laugh. The thing he wants the most on his list is a Wii.

This was our only Ohio Christmas activity this year because tomorrow, the kids and I are

GOING TO UTAH!!!

We get to spend three weeks with our families for my sister's wedding and Holiday festivities! We are so excited! Sadly, Bryan can't join us until December 11th. (Wish me luck on the plane! Eek!) We'll miss you babe!

Happy Turkey Day!

Thansgivings here in Ohio have been so fun for us. Since so many of our friends here are "transplants" far away from family, we have really enjoyed getting together and sharing Thanksgiving together. The Palfreymans, Collettes, Days, Shupes, Deb and Paiton Christensen, and Elders Fernandez and Johnson joined us at our house today. Everyone brought a few favorite dishes to share, so there was a TON of delicious food!

The Palfreymans

The Collettes

The Days

Look out, Gavin, Paiton's got her eye on you!

It wasn't super fancy - we ate on paper plates, we didn't have many decorations or personalized place cards, but we had plenty to be thankful for: good friends and lots of yummy food! Years from now, I think we will always look back fondly at our Thanksgivings in Ohio.

HaPpY ThAnKsGiVinG!

Pie Day!

Today was the day before Thanksgiving, AKA, Pie Day! This year I did two pumpkin pies (Bryan's very favorite) and one apple pie.


Earlier today, I made Turkey Cookies with the kids. I think they really got a kick out of them. I figured most of the kids would rather eat cookies than pie on Thanksgiving anyway, right?

Yes, the red things are supposed to be the "gobblers" (apparently they are really called SNOODS. I had to Google it), not gushing facial wounds.

This is my little baking buddy, Ruby.

Everyone should have a Ruby to bake with. It's like having my own personal cheerleader. I crack an egg, she shouts, "Wow, Summer!" I beat the egg, she cheers, "Whoa, you're doing great!" She's just so enthusiastic!

The best part of my day today was when she added the last cup of sugar. She turned to me with a huge grin on her face and said,

"Whoa! We're having so much fun today, Summer!"